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America’s Giving – Scroogish?

America, the Indifferent

Almost a third of the way into the program, the latest available figures show that the percentage of United States income going to poor countries remains near rock bottom: 0.14 percent. Britain is at 0.34 percent, and France at 0.41 percent. (Norway and Sweden, to no one’s surprise, are already exceeding the goal, at 0.92 percent and 0.79 percent.)

One point which I saw raised on some discussion sites was what these number look like when private giving is factored in. Apparently US tax policy rewards charitable contributions by making htem deductible (in effect subsidizing them) while Europe’s VAT style lacks a similar exemption. So I think the question of giving by the American people is hard to interpret based on governmental grants alone. How much money is collected by organizations like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, etc. from private donors in the US vs. other countries?